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Liverpool’s performances in England over the past six weeks haven’t seen Jürgen Klopp’s defending champion Reds at anything like their dominant best, but they have been better than the results.
The end result of that, an extended run of average performances paired with poor results in the midst of a season of crippling injuries and without fans, has been to rather depress the mood.
Perhaps, though, all that was needed was a change of scenery. Like a trip to Europe to take on Leipzig in the Champions League. Different competition, different country, different result—and now everyone feeling a little more confident as a result.
“To play a good game and to win the game as well gives you a good feeling, a lot of good feelings,” said Gini Wijnaldum. “And also confidence again because now you get rewarded for the game.
“Every game is a totally different game, so we just have to lift it up every game and give our all. But the win was welcome and we are happy we could win this game.”
The trick now will be taking that confidence back to England and managing a consistent run in the league with three domestic games to play—starting with local rivals Everton on Saturday—before the second leg against Leipzig.
“Before when we played good games, almost every time we won,” Wijnaldum added. “So this is something new for us, the situation we are in right now. We just have to deal with it and have faith we can turn it around.
“Games like this help to get the confidence back. It’s a difficult situation to be in but also from this situation we will learn and it will help us along the way.”